Rose "Thug" Namajunas is a former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion with a professional MMA record of 11 wins and 5 losses. Rose is currently ranked #5 in the UFC Women's pound-for-pound rankings and is the first female fighter in the history of UFC to win the Strawweight Championship twice.
Rose Namajunas got early into combat sports as she started Taekwondo at the age of 5 and earned her junior black belt by the age of 9. Along with this Rose would also train in karate and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu
Namajunas started MMA in high school and would later make her amateur debut in 2010. She would go on a 4-fight-win streak before eventually turning pro in 2013 at Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs Hyatt. Namajunas had a record of 2-1 at Invicta before signing with the UFC
Rose Namajunas was signed in December 2013 by the UFC as a participant on the 20th season of the Ultimate Fighter that would crown the first-ever UFC Women's Strawweight Champion. Rose was the fourth pick of team Melendez and would be unbeaten on the show until the finale where she lost to Carla Esparza for the title.
Rose Namajunas would make her UFC debut at UFC 192 where she would defeat Angela Hill via Submission(rear-naked choke) in the first round. Rose would follow this with wins over Page VanZant and Tecia Torres before losing to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 201. Rose would bounce back by defeating Michelle Waterson at UFC ON Fox 24 to earn a flyweight title shot against the then-champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Namajunas would defeat Joanna at UFC 217 to become the new UFC Women's Flyweight Champion and would again defeat Joanna at UFC 223 to retain her title.
The title reign would be short-lived as Rose would lose the belt at UFC 237 to Jessica Andrade via KO(slam) in the second round. She would avenge this loss against Andrade at UFC 251 and would get a flyweight title bout against Weili Zhang after her win. Namajunas would fight Zhang at UFC 261 and would defeat Weili with a Head Kick Ko in the first round to become the first-ever 2-time UFC Women's Flyweight Champion.
Rose Namajunas would face Joana Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 for the UFC Women's Flyweight Championship. The underdog Rose would dominate the champion and would land 15 strikes to Joanna's 5 before knocking her out via punches inside the first round to become the new UFC Women's Flyweight Champion.
Rose Namajunas fought Weili Zhang at UFC 261 for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. The bout would end inside the 2nd minute of the fight when Rose would hit Weili with a head kick and knockout the champion to create history by becoming the only female fighter to regain a UFC title in the company's history.
Rose Namajunas fought Zhang Weili at UFC 268 for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. This encounter was much closer than the first fight between the two. Rose started in the fight at a slow pace as she sought to gauge Whang's plan and counter it.
Weili on the other hand showcased her improved wrestling skills and managed to take Rose down 3-times and win the crucial early rounds. Namajunas mounted a comeback in rounds 4 and 5 to outclass Zhang. In the end, the fight went to the judge's scorecard who gave to Rose Namajunas via split decision.
Rose Namajunas's current record stands at 11-5. She is currently #3 in the UFC Women's Strawweight Rankings.
Rose Namajunas's last fight was against Carla Esparza at UFC 274 for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. Namajunas lost the fight via split decision.
Rose Namajunas is also known as "Thug"
Rose Namajunas holds an MMA record of 11-5.
Rose Namajunas is a former UFC Strawweight Champion. She was also the first female fighter in the history of UFC to win the Strawweight Championship twice.
Rose Namajunas is of Lithuanian descent and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Last Updated On 12th January 2023
